LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7802, 5 September 1903, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

H.M.S. Picebe and Lizard are to leave Lyttelton on Monday for a few days' big gun practice. The annual {general meeting of- members «f the- Union Rowing Club will be heldnt tibe btoathouse on Monday evening. The number of presents (including many illuminated addresses) received by the Duke a<nd Duchess of York during tiheir stay in •New Zealand was 283. Bishop Neligan, remarked as Stratford that since his arrival in the colony he had noticed that mem formed the greater part of congregataioos in the ahurch.es 'he had Visited, with but one exception. I A female, -who had) never been before the | iCSourt previously, was convicted and dis- j charged at the Magistrate's Court this ttttorning, on a charge of drunkenness. Mr W. R. Haselden, S.M., occupied the Bench. There was .no other business. The date upon which the Highfield Estate •will be thrown open for selection has not yet been fixed. The plans are\ in the hands of the printer in Wellington, and are expected to be rejsdy for distribution in about three weeks' time. At' the Feilding Police Court yesterday (before Mr A. D. Thompson, S.M.), Thomas Watson pleaded guilty to assaulting William Travels .in the train on the night of August 20, and was committed to the Supreme Court, at Wellington, for sentence. It is. not often that children are seen illdad in tap Ohristoburch jstreets, but a small boy seen in £be 'city yesterday formed a striking exception. His most important garments were almost devoid of seat, and ■were surmounted only by a dilapidated coot. A telegram from Wellington states that the telegraph authorities are taking, steps to put an end to the abuse of the telephone system by which it is alleged certain subscribers have come to an arrangement whereby firms occupying the same buildings, and who are not subscribers; have*full use of a telephone. / * In ngavd to a paragraph published this morning, stating that firemen in Christchuroh intended to have a walking match from New Brighton, to the Cloi-k Tower, Superintendent Smith says that it appeared without his authority, and that he would Sot entertain the idea of allowing the firemen to leave the city for an occasion of that nature. The Government \has completed the purbhase of twenty acres of land at Te Mata, close to Napier, for a vinery, and has leased a much larger area adjoining its own freehold section, for the same purpose. Tibe Secretary for Agriculture and the Government VitiouJturisfc will visit Te Mata fox the purpose of arranging for getting the ground in order for the vines. The tnext meeting of the Cbristchurah Garrison Library has been postponed to Thursday, September 10, on account of the death of Mrs Day, mother of LieutenantColonel Day. Toe subject for the debate on that evening is : " Does the ' Marksman' Benefit a Volunteer Corps?" Captain Foster, of (the Oity Rifles, will lead the affirmative argument. The meeting will be held in the Linwood Rifles' orderly-room. An, order has been issued \by the' Commandant of the Forces that veteran, officers, non-tiommissioned officers and men who were in possession of war medals may in future be buried with military honours appertaining to their (respective ranks, although at thia time of their decease they were not serving in any military force. Tins innovation will grant the veterans' as a light what ias been obtained hitherto only by a special application. At a special meeting of the Timaru Harbour Board held to-day, satisfaction was expressed! at tine value of the new mole in protecting the harbour during the storm of the pastfew days. The Engineer estimates the damage to the staging of the jnsle at meariy £2000. The Board resolved to ask Mir J. P. Maxwell, the designer of the mole, to visit Timaru and confei^with. the resident Engineer and advise the j&oaird as to the best raetihtod of reconstructing the damaged portion. - It is generally known in the bush districts that the sap of the mated tree is drunk by • some people and is (popularly known as "matai beer." A According to a statement i made at the Wellington Philosophical Bo\ciety's meeting on Wednesday, the sap of the limu is similarly donsumed, and the men get a grealt liking, for ft. As to "matai beer, Mr Gerald FitzGerald said he had drunk it himself, but nothing would induce him to do so again. It seemed to him to be almost pure turpentine. A peculiar poser was put to the legal: adviser of tibe Municipal Association on Thursday morning by the Mayor of Wellington, on behalf of -a member of the City . Council. The question was: In view of the fact that some of the streets of Wellington aie very narrow, could the- Coun- ' oil stop ordinary vehicular traiffic goatog through those narrow streets after the electrical tram service has been installed?. If \ this could be done, and traffic so diverted, danger to citizens would be reduced to a minimum. Mfc Martin replied that no suoh power as that proposed in the question was provided for in existing legislation. The secretary of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce has received a letter from the Postal Department in reference to suggestions made by the Chamber on April 21, for a weekly mail service to the United Kingdom by' way of Suez. The Department states that* offers were invited from the Union Steamship Company for a service from Wellington to Sydney every Friday, or on the Friday in each week following that on which the San Francisco mail leaves Wellington, with a view of ensuring a connection with the Suez mail leaving Sydney on the following Tuesday. The PostmafiterG«neral was not able to entertain the proposals made by the company.